Dragon in its Nest

A Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 3:22 p.m. EDT on October 28, 2012, a few hundred miles west of Baja California, Mexico. The splashdown successfully ended the first contracted cargo delivery flight contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station.

The Dragon capsule was taken by boat to a port near Los Angeles, where it was prepared for a return journey to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, TX, for processing. Returning with the Dragon capsule was 1,673 pounds of cargo, including 866 pounds of scientific research. Not since the space shuttle, have NASA and its international partners been able to return considerable amounts of research and samples for analysis.